THE FUND: 

The Alex LeVasseur Memorial Fund was established in 2007 by the LeVasseur family after the tragic passing of 13-year-old Alex LeVasseur(son of singer-songwriter Jeffrey Steele and his wife Stephanie LeVasseur).  Since the start of the Fund the LeVasseur family has created programs and projects to help overlooked and at-risk youth. Over the 16 years we’ve made 38 grants totaling nearly $600,000 to help at-risk youth.  At the same time grants have been made, we’ve also been working to grow the Fund through fundraising and the investments guided by The Community Foundation. The growth and preservation of the Fund ensures that it will be around for supporting organizations long after the Jeffrey Steele & Friends event becomes an historic event.  We are working to grow the Fund to well over $1.5 million. Notable grantees include: The Beat of Life, Charlie Worsham’s Follow Your Heart Scholarship Program, Kip Moore’s Kip’s Kids Fund, National Youth Recovery Foundation, Rocketown of Middle Tennessee, Tony Hawk Foundation, YMCA of Brentwood, YMCA of Middle Tennessee

SIGNATURE INITIATIVES:

THE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM: 

The Alex LeVasseur Skate Scholarship program was designed to create a motivational environment for young adults through skateboarding. The program targets students in need of incentives and mentors to help them improve their grades and/or behavior. Over the years scholarships have supported students at organizations including Rocketown, Brentwood YMCA, and The Skatepark Project

THE SKATEPARK: 

The Alex LeVasseur Memorial Skatepark was first established in October of 2010 is located at the Brentwood YMCA (8207 Concord Road Brentwood, TN 37027).  In May of 2010 a devastating flood took place in Middle Tennessee. The Brentwood skatepark was in desperate need of repair and renovation. After months of planning and working to make this happen, including four weeks of park closure, the new and vastly improved skatepark, designed by Donny Myhre of the Franklin Skate Shop, opened on Sunday October 24th 2010 with an official Ribbon-cutting Celebration. Due to generous donations from local businesses, as well as volunteered help, including a volunteer based demolition of the old skatepark, the Alex LeVasseur Fund was able to save thousands of dollars on the overall project. In 2023 the park underwent a major renovation to become a concrete park to better serve the community for years to come. On August 4th of 2024 The brand new Alex LeVasseur Memorial Skatepark was officially opened with a ribbon-cutting celebration at the Brentwood Family YMCA.

ALEX LEVASSEUR MUSIC LAB:

The first Alex LeVasseur Multi-Media Center & Lounge was opened at the Northwest Family YMCA in Nashville, TN in the Spring of 2013. The vision for the center stemmed from Alex’s creativity. He would film videos of his friends and himself skateboarding, then edit the films and create his own soundtrack. The LeVasseur Family wanted to provide a place for youth who may not otherwise have the opportunities to learn and create in a supportive environment. In addition a second spaced was opened at the Y-CAP facility in Franklin in 2015, serving at-risk youth in that program and continuing to support the overall mission of Alex’s fund. In 2023 both media rooms merged into the Alex LeVasseur Music Lab at the Brentwood YMCA Teen Center to help better serve our community. The Music Lab is available for teens and pre-teens whenever the Teen Center is open and we host Group Music Classes on Monday’s thru our partnership with The Beat of Life.

THE ALEX LEVASSEUR MEMORIAL GRANT:

In early 2018 the Fund made its largest commitment to date, with a $100,000/five-year commitment to assist the Skate Park Project (formerly the Tony Hawk Foundation) with building Skate Parks in under-served communities across the U.S.The Alex LeVasseur Memorial Grant is made twice annually through the Tony Hawk Foundation to a deserving community. In 2022 The Fund renewed their commitment and partnership with The Skatepark Project. In 2023 this grant helped to support the “Supply The Ride” initiative which helps to provide skate gear to communities in need. To date we have been able to support the opening of 12 skateparks across the country thru this grant.

THE BEAT OF LIFE’S “ANTHEMS OF CHANGE” at Y-CAP:

In 2018, past LeVasseur Fund grantee organizations have come together to start a program that highlights the strengths of each organization and serve at risk young people in Williamson County in the process. The Beat of Life Sing it to Stop Program takes place in the Alex LeVasseur Multimedia Center & Lounge at the Franklin Y-CAP. The Beat of Life is a music based non-profit that provides therapeutic songwriting and music programs to Nashville’s most vulnerable, challenged, and hurting populations. Through this program they will be working with at-risk youth in the YMCA’s Y-CAP program. Y-CAP is an outreach program that serves teens in 8th-12th grade of Williamson County by offering dynamic opportunities to grow in Spirit, Mind, and Body. The mission of this program and partnership is to bring dynamic music programming into the Alex LeVasseur Multimedia Center & Lounge at Y-CAP while helping encourage, inspire and educate the lives of our youth. 

In 2022 The Fund made a $100,000/five-year commitment to support the Partnership with The Beat of Life to continue to support our Youth through music programming and mentorship. This grant will help to support music for our youth at the Alex LeVasseur Music Lab, the Juvenile Detention center music program in Nashville with Jelly Roll and many other youth spaces in need of inspiring programs and mentors.

THE EVENT: 

Jeffrey Steele & Friends takes place every March at The Franklin Theatre in Franklin, TN.  As this event goes into its 18h year it will continue to raise funds for the already established programs and projects detailed above and seek to support other projects that share the Funds mission.  

 FROM THE FAMILY OF ALEX CHASE LEVASSEUR

January 2007

Just as there were no words for you in our time of unimaginable loss, there are no words for us for all the love and moments of peace you have given that we so tightly clung to over the last 2 weeks.

The hole can never be filled and that is why we remember. All the food, all the hugs, will not be forgotten all the letters all the prayers will not be forgotten, like Alex they will not be forgotten!

To all his friends, fans and teachers we hope you will remember his spirit.

Love,

The LeVasseur Family